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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23252824">Ricordi Della Vita</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaliopeShipsIt/pseuds/KaliopeShipsIt'>KaliopeShipsIt</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Alliteration-Verse [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Derek, Kid Fic, M/M, Mpreg, Original Character(s), POV Stiles Stilinski, Past Mpreg, Pregnant Derek Hale, References to traumatic birth, Sick Derek Hale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 16:22:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,424</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23252824</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaliopeShipsIt/pseuds/KaliopeShipsIt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles and Derek's oldest daughter Leonie has moved to New York City for college and finds herself experiencing a little homesickness.</p><p>To take her mind off things, Stiles decides to tell her the story of how he and Derek started their family and ends up taking an unexpected trip down memory lane.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Alliteration-Verse [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/72459</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>209</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ricordi Della Vita</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My Lovelies!</p><p>Remember how some of you asked me to write a story from Stiles' POV that covered some of the more dramatic events in the mpreg stories of the Alliteration Verse back in - ahem - 2014?</p><p>Let it never be said that I don't make good on my promises! Even if it's six years after the fact ;).</p><p>For real though.</p><p>This alternative universe of mine is my first 'baby', the one that got me into mpreg writing and helped me remember that I love writing in general when I wanted to do anything but. It's my fan fic happy place and it holds a special place in my heart.</p><p>As some of you know, English is not my first language and I'm going to be the first to admit that the earlier stories proudly sport some creative grammar constructions and clunky sentence structures (in my native language, we build compound words like it's an olympic discipline and we can extend one single sentence over an entire page, so believe me, when I make sentences with only three or four commas I'm actually quite proud of myself). Also, one of these days I might just go back and change the spacing on some of them, haha. </p><p>Despite its imperfections, however, it's always made me happy to explore this little family's life and adventures and when shit started hitting the fan over here in Europe, I couldn't help but dust them off again. </p><p> <br/>This story covers moments from "Derek and Stiles Sitting in a Tree," "Stiles and Derek Make a Baby", "Something Borrowed, Something Blue ... And Two Pink Lines", "Rule of Three," and "Full House". Some of these are scenes that you guys asked me for, others might just be a little surprise :). </p><p>Stay safe out there, my lovelies, and I hope this unexpected (ahem) surprise will brighten your day in these strange and surreal times and maybe make the social distancing a little easier for a little while.</p><p> </p><p>E se qualcuno dei miei lettori è italiano: Sei nel mio cuore! Amore dalla Germania :*.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>August 28<sup>th</sup>, 2041</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“But it’s our <em>birthday</em>, Daddy!”</p><p>“Yes Daddy, it’s our birthday! We <em>always </em>go to sleep when we want on our <em>birthday</em>!”</p><p>Two tearful sets of eyes, amber and hazel, were staring up at him, filled with dawning horror and utter betrayal.</p><p>It was simultaneously the most adorable and most heartbreaking thing Stiles had seen in a long time, his resolve wavering when the pair of hazel eyes started shimmering with big, sad, puppy-tears.</p><p>“I’m sorry Puppies, but you’re big school-girls now, and big girls have to go to bed at eight when they have school the next day. Even on their birthday.”</p><p>Derek’s voice was gentle but firm and Stiles heaved a sigh of relief at the back-up.</p><p>He turned and shared an exasperated smile with his husband when first Maggie and then Kara began to pout like they were competing in the pouting Olympics.</p><p>The babies of the Hale-Stilinski brood had just started first grade a little over two weeks ago and they’d been very excited to realize that their sixth birthday was going to fall on a school day.</p><p>Maggie and Kara had taken to school like fish to water and they’d eagerly looked forward to being able to share their birthday cupcakes with their new classmates.</p><p>Derek and Stiles had spent the better part of the night baking mermaid themed cupcakes and fourteen-year-old Noah had enthusiastically assisted them.</p><p>To the delight of the entire family, Noah had discovered his love for baking after Jackson and Aidan’s gender reveal party and the girls had squealed delightedly at the sight of the custard cream filled vanilla cupcakes topped with raspberry frosting and decorated with marzipan mermaid tails.</p><p>When Derek had picked them up from school, the girls had spent the entire car ride home bouncing in their car-seats and talking over each other to tell them how amazing their birthday had been.</p><p>The Hale-Stilinski family had spent the rest of the afternoon opening presents with the pack, followed by a gourmet dinner of mac and cheese with hot dogs that the girls had requested.</p><p>However, Maggie and Kara’s excitement had come to an abrupt end five minutes ago, when they’d realized that having a birthday on a school day also meant that one had to go bed like it was a school day.</p><p>“Please Papa, please?” Kara tried once more, wrapping her arms around Derek’s legs and blinking up at him unhappily.</p><p>Derek sighed and picked her up with ease, carrying her over to the bed and tucking her in despite their little werewolf girl’s rumbling protest.</p><p>“Come on Maggie-Baby,” Stiles told their human daughter and picked her up as well, manfully ignoring the little twinge in his back.</p><p>At 45, Stiles took great pride in being able to make dad jokes without a dad bod for emphasis, but he was slowly beginning to steel himself for the sad day on which he wasn’t going to be able to carry his babies around anymore.</p><p>Stiles had long decided that he was always going to treat his twins equally and he was pretty sure he’d have to stop carrying both of them by the time the school year was over.</p><p>At barely three feet three and weighing 34 pounds soaking wet, their werewolf daughter was tiny for her age, but her human twin had eight inches and almost fifteen pounds on her, making her look deceptively stronger than her werewolf sister.</p><p>Stiles didn’t like to dwell on their size difference too much, however, certain without proof that his youngest’s tiny stature had to do with the traumatic way she’d come into the world.</p><p>Six years of happy memories had done wonders in softening the agonizing memories of the twins’ birth, but Stiles still woke up from a nightmare every couple of months and was only able to fall back asleep after he’d tiptoed into the girls’ room to check that both were still there and sleeping peacefully.</p><p>The memories were never more present than on the girls’ birthday, but excited squeals, sparkling eyes, beaming smiles, and lots of hugs and kisses were getting more and more effective at keeping the dark thoughts at bay with each passing year.</p><p>As he tucked Maggie in and smoothed a lock of unruly blonde hair out of her forehead, Stiles threw a quick glance over to the other side of the room, his heart giving a little lurch and his throat feeling a bit tight as he watched Derek nuzzle Kara’s cheek, her arms slung around his neck like the little snugtopus that she was.</p><p>At 50 years of age, his husband’s hair was streaked with gray and his beard had long turned salt and pepper, there were laugh lines around his eyes and the corners of his mouth, and his belly and thighs were softer than they’d been before he’d carried five children.</p><p>He was the most beautiful man that Stiles had ever seen and he’d long since resigned himself to the fact that Derek and his everything were going to wreck him until the day he died.</p><p>Giving up his Alpha powers to save their youngest child’s life had aged Derek more than he would have under normal circumstances, but the prize for his sacrifice was infinitely precious and neither of them dwelled on the question of whether Derek might have given up part of his life span, too.</p><p>“Can you tell us a story, Daddy?”</p><p>Kara looked at Stiles with a hopeful expression and Maggie instantly chimed in, almost headbutting Stiles right in the nose when she sat back up and clapped her hands in excitement.</p><p>Derek quirked an amused eyebrow at him and Stiles heaved a mock sigh, trying not to smile as he grabbed <em>Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver </em>from the nightstand.</p><p>“Alright Puppies! Do you remember why Nepomuk is a half-dragon?”</p><p>“Because his mommy was a hippo, Daddy!” Kara and Maggie answered in unison, their devastation over having to go to bed early on their birthday clearly forgotten.</p><p>Stiles smiled indulgently and opened his mouth, as eager as the girls to find out just how Jim Button and Luke were planning to trick all the dragons and smuggle themselves into the dragon city to save the princess.</p><p>Before he could get started, however, his phone started ringing in his pocket, the ring tone telling him that it was Leonie.</p><p>“You should get that. I’ll take over,” Derek said quickly, disentangling himself from Kara’s snuggle-hold so he could take the book from Stiles.</p><p>Stiles nodded gratefully and got up, waiting to pick up the call until he was in the hallway and had closed the door behind him.</p><p>Leonie had already called earlier and sung happy birthday to her baby sisters at the top of her lungs, much to the twins’ delight.</p><p>She’d tried her best to sound cheerful, but both fathers had noticed that she’d seemed a little sad and Stiles wasn’t surprised at all that she was calling again.</p><p>Their oldest had graduated at the end of May and had recently started her Freshman year at NYU.</p><p>She’d dreamed of moving to New York City since middle school and Stiles swore his ears were still ringing from the excited screeching that had been Leonie’s response to fishing the acceptance letter out of the mailbox.</p><p>Stiles and Derek had been excited for her, but they’d both felt a little weird about their baby moving to the other side of the country.</p><p>Well.</p><p>Weird probably wasn’t the right word to describe the five extra pounds that Stiles had accumulated by stress eating ice-cream in the weeks leading up to Leonie’s big move, but she was his <em>baby </em>and Stiles felt his coping mechanism was entirely justified.</p><p>He'd worried a little about how Derek would take the news, given that New York City held a lot of bittersweet and painful memories for him.</p><p>Derek had surprised him, however, his voice wistful but steady as he’d mused that maybe Leonie’s happiness was destined to cancel out the pain and fear that had been his and Laura’s constant companion while they’d lived in the big city.</p><p>Nevertheless, the last ten days before Leonie’s big move had been filled with tears, since she’d broken up with her boyfriend Charlie after almost two years of dating.</p><p>It had been a mutual breakup, as Charlie had been admitted to Berkeley and they’d both realized that they weren’t going to make a long-distance relationship work, but Leonie had still been heartbroken, moping around the house and stealing Stiles’ sadness-ice-cream whenever he wasn’t looking.</p><p>Stiles had been relieved, since he’d never quite warmed up to the quirky boy and his unfortunate tendency to dress like a wannabe-vampire, but he’d also felt sorry for his daughter as he’d watched her navigate her first real heartbreak.</p><p>The day of her departure had been rough on all of them.</p><p>They had decided that Derek would drive her to the East Coast, since he knew his way around the city and was quite adamant to pay the local pack a visit, hoping to both strengthen old alliances and bribe them into keeping a protective eye on the newly independent college werewolf moving into their territory.</p><p>This had left Stiles in charge of the four younger kids, who’d all been struggling with their big sister’s departure in their own way.</p><p>Their youngest children hadn’t really understood what ‘going away to college’ meant until the moment Leonie, Noah, Derek, and Stiles had loaded her stuff into the back of the U-Haul and Kara had started crying inconsolably.</p><p>Maggie had joined in as well, not quite feeling the uncomfortable tugging of pack bonds stretching the way Kara, Cas, and Derek were, but crying in solidarity with her twin nevertheless.</p><p>Cas, meanwhile, had been moping all morning and sulking in the background, looking like he’d suffered a betrayal of immense proportions.</p><p>Their now eleven-year-old werewolf son had been inseparable from his big sister ever since she’d helped guide him into the world and though he was old enough to understand what going away to college meant, Stiles could tell that the knowledge didn’t do much to comfort him.</p><p>He'd still been sulking when Leonie had wrapped her arms around him to scent him reassuringly, clinging to her with a thunderous expression and very stubbornly squeezing his eyes shut.</p><p>Noah had also looked a little misty-eyed, but Stiles knew that his second child was also secretly excited about taking over the role of the ‘oldest’ in the family.</p><p>He loved Leonie dearly, but puberty had put a little strain on their relationship in the past year and a half.</p><p>For a while, Maggie’s birth had taken some of the edge off of Noah’s anxiety and insecurities about being human in a family full of werewolves, but puberty had clearly brought all of them back with a vengeance and then some.</p><p>Noah’s body has changed rapidly in the past six months alone, as he’d first outgrown Stiles and then even Derek, towering over all of them at a gangly 6 feet 2.</p><p>He still looked a lot like Stiles, but he’d inherited Derek’s jawline, Derek’s nose, and surprisingly, Derek’s hairiness.</p><p>Being able to grow a respectable beard at fourteen had made Noah a sensation at middle school and Noah had basked in the attention for almost two weeks, secretly pleased that he could finally benefit from his otherwise dormant werewolf genes.</p><p>His pride in his new assets had lasted all of two weeks, until he’d realized that maintaining a nice-looking beard was actually quite a bit of work.</p><p>He’d started shaving soon after, but he’d unfortunately inherited Stiles’ coordination and had yet to get the hang out of shaving without nicking his skin constantly.</p><p>In between hairy toes, hairy knuckles, long limbs that he hadn’t quite gotten used to, and acne that the daily shaving was only irritating further, Noah’s insecurities about not being a werewolf were not helped along by his insecurities about his changing body in the slightest.</p><p>Where Noah had quietly shrugged off Leonie’s tendency to protect and occasionally baby her human brother in the past, he now snapped back and sulked openly, which had led to a bit of tension between their older children that had only been aggravated by Leonie’s increasing anxiety about moving out on her own and the resulting short-temperedness.  </p><p>As he’d watched Noah and Leonie cling to each other to say goodbye on the day of the move, Stiles had been certain that they were going to come out of the puberty storm just fine, but he’d also been fairly certain that a bit of distance definitely couldn’t hurt.  </p><p>Eventually, Derek had been able to pry Leonie away from her younger siblings and once Stiles had kissed her goodbye as well, Derek had gently steered Leonie towards the U-Haul.</p><p>Stiles and the kids had waved until the truck had gone out of sight and then they’d eaten ice cream sundaes on the porch until the twins had stopped sniffling and Cas had no longer been sulking.</p><p>It was altogether very possible that Stiles had gone into Leonie’s room after he’d tucked the girls and Cas into bed and it was also entirely possible that Noah had caught him sniffling while hugging Leonie’s stuffed unicorn for dear life, but no one else needed to know.  </p><p>Derek had returned a week later and he’d spent the first night back home holding on to Stiles and reassuring both of them that Leonie was in good hands with the Webber pack, that her dorm room was really nice and her roommate seemed completely harmless, and that Leonie was going to have an all-around amazing college experience.</p><p>It had been a little over a month since they’d said goodbye to their oldest child and Stiles knew for a fact that they were both already marking down the days on the calendar until she’d be home for Thanksgiving.</p><p>However, getting excited messages and phone calls about all her amazing adventures and hearing her sound so happy had definitely helped Stiles cope with missing his baby.</p><p>She hadn’t sounded genuinely happy when she’d called earlier, however, and Stiles was glad he could finally get to the bottom of it, now that the birthday girls were taken care of.</p><p>“Hey Leo-Pie,” he greeted her as he walked into his and Derek’s bedroom, turning on the video and giving his daughter a little wave as he settled onto the bed.</p><p>Leonie looked like she’d just gotten ready for bed herself, dressed in her brand-new NYU sleepwear and her dark hair tied into a messy bun.</p><p>“Hey Daddy,” she said and Stiles immediately sat up straighter, his daddy alarm senses all a tingling.</p><p>She’d stopped calling him ‘daddy’ at the beginning of her senior year, deeming herself too old for such childish antics.</p><p>However, hearing her say it now told Stiles that his tough werewolf daughter was feeling small and sad, and he wanted nothing more than to make it better.</p><p>“What’s wrong, Leo-Pie?” he asked, wondering if his daughter was upset because she’d missed the girls’ birthday or if he needed to head to NYC to hur… deliver a <em>stern talking </em>to whoever had made her look so unhappy.</p><p>“Nothing,” Leonie tried, her face cracking instantly when Stiles raised a disbelieving eyebrow.</p><p>“I mean … nothing’s <em>wrong</em>-wrong. It’s not a supernatural crisis or anything, it’s just … promise you won’t laugh at me, okay?”</p><p>“I would never laugh at you,” Stiles said seriously, and Leonie sighed, a shimmer of wetness in her eyes making them look even greener than usual.</p><p>“It’s just …. I’m homesick, Daddy! Really homesick! I miss you and Papa, and Noah-Boa, and Cas, and the puppies, and I just … I miss my <em>pack</em>! I know you and Papa told me to be prepared for a little adjustment period, but I don’t think I took it seriously. I was just so excited to finally move to New York and it’s great here, it really is, but now that I’m here, I just …”</p><p>“It’s not home,” Stiles said gently, and Leonie nodded, trying for a smile and missing by a mile.</p><p>“Yeah. I like it here, I really do, but without all of you guys I just … it sucks! I haven’t washed my sheets and pillowcase in a <em>month </em>because they smell like home and I think my roommate is really starting to judge me!”</p><p>“Oh dear,” Stiles said, biting on his lips and feeling relieved when Leonie smiled, too.</p><p>“I know. Crazy, right?”</p><p>“Unhygienic? Yes. Crazy? No,” Stiles replied contemplatively, and Leonie laughed, her eyes looking just a little bit brighter.</p><p>“Have you thought about dropping by the Webber pack for a visit? Maybe it would be nice to be around a pack for a bit,” Stiles suggested, leaning back against the pillows to get more comfortable.</p><p>Leonie scrunched up her nose.</p><p>“I don’t know. I don’t want them to think I’m a baby who can’t handle being on her own. I’ve been hanging out with Will a lot, but he’s got different classes with much bigger workloads. I know he’d make the time for me if I asked, but I’d feel bad if he lost study time just because I’m over here acting a mess and sniffing pillowcases!”</p><p>Stiles shook his head fondly, even though he knew for a fact that Will Finstock would have devoted <em>all </em>of his time to make Leonie feel better if it had really come down to it.</p><p>They’d been best friends for years and Stiles had not at all been surprised when Will had applied to and gotten accepted to NYU as well, taking comfort in the fact that his baby-girl wasn’t all alone on the East Coast.</p><p>Also, Will Finstock was the polar opposite of his eccentric father and both Stiles and Derek were relieved that their occasionally impulsive and adventurous oldest had her pragmatic and responsible best friend around to talk her out of getting into too much college mischief.</p><p>“I wish I wasn’t the oldest!” Leonie sighed dramatically, interrupting Stiles’ musings.</p><p>“Having Will here has really helped, but he’s not <em>pack</em>, you know? I think I’d feel a lot better if Mikey or Josie were here with me! I know Will doesn’t mind if I scent him a little, but I don’t want it to be <em>weird</em>, you know? Anyway, I used to think being the oldest was <em>so cool</em>, but now I’m realizing that it actually <em>sucks balls</em>!”</p><p>“Language!” Stiles admonished automatically and Leonie blushed, ducking her head apologetically.</p><p>“Besides, my darling daughter, you should be grateful you’re only three years older than Mikey. If Papa and I had had our way, the age gap between you guys would have been even bigger.”</p><p>“What do you mean?” Leonie cocked her head curiously and Stiles’ smile turned a bit wistful, as twenty-year-old memories flashed in front of his eyes.</p><p>Twenty years.</p><p>The number seemed almost staggering, as he could still remember Leonie’s chubby cheeks and toothless smile as she’d stared up at him from the cradle of his arms.</p><p>At the same time, however, the eighteen-year old looking at him from his phone made the number all too real.</p><p>“Well, you made us wait a little longer than we would have liked. When Papa and I decided to start a family, we figured it would happen really quickly and be super easy. After all, between your Papa being a werewolf and me being the subject of a town scandal when I was born only seven months after my parents’ wedding, no one thought we’d actually have trouble conceiving. We did though. It took us more than a year until you were finally on your way.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>Leonie stared at him with wide eyes, looking truly fascinated.</p><p>“I don’t think I ever heard that story. I’ve obviously asked you about the day I was born, but I don’t think I ever asked about the day when you found out you were going to have me.”</p><p>She looked at Stiles with a hopeful smile, the image shaking for a moment as she hopped onto her bed and got more comfortable.</p><p>“My roommate is at a party tonight, I have the room to myself until tomorrow,” she continued, and Stiles didn’t need more prompting, figuring that a trip down memory lane was as good a way to cure his daughter’s homesickness as any.</p><p>“Actually, our story begins almost two years earlier, after your Papa and I had a little mishap in a very old and unfortunately not as sturdy-as-it-looked tree …”</p><p> </p><p>===================</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>2021</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“The advantage of having a green penis is that you’re pretty popular with the mer-people of Beacon Hills. Well, if Beacon Hills had mer-people, obviously, but the point remains!”</p><p>The look that Derek gave him was drier than chalk.</p><p>“Well, I’m a werewolf, not a mer-wolf, so until you clean up it’s not going anywhere near me and it’s <em>definitely </em>not going inside of me!”</p><p>Stiles grimaced, letting out a pained grunt as he went back to vigorously cleaning the last bits of mossy residue off his dick.</p><p>“Yeah, well, you’ve got toothpaste stuck in your beard!”</p><p>Derek shrugged.</p><p>“I think I’d look very distinguished with a white beard,” he mused, his eyes crinkling in amusement when Stiles reached over and absentmindedly wiped the smudge away.</p><p>Then, he paused, staring at his finger in dawning realization.</p><p>“Ha! Did you see that? I’m going to be a natural, parenting is going to be a piece of cake! You and your knot definitely made the right choice when you picked me as your baby-daddy!”</p><p>“Well, please don’t parent me, <em>daddy</em>, neither my knot nor I appreciate it,” Derek replied, spitting the rest of the toothpaste out and rinsing his mouth.</p><p>Stiles grimaced.</p><p>“Yeah, no, don’t do that again.”</p><p>He paused, considering.</p><p>“Not that I’m kink-shaming or anything, whatever floats your boat, no judgment, but maybe … yeah, no.”</p><p>Derek laughed, playfully hip checking him on his way out of their bathroom.</p><p>“You’re sure though, right?” Stiles asked five minutes later, after he’d finally de-greenified his penis, brushed his teeth, and joined Derek in the bedroom.</p><p>Derek smiled gently.</p><p>“Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure. I’m ready.”</p><p>“Me too,” Stiles said with feeling, crossing the distance between them to wrap his arms around Derek and capture his lips in a heated kiss.</p><p>“I love you,” he said between kisses, his fingers stroking Derek’s cheeks affectionately.</p><p>“I love you so much. And I’m going to love our babies so much!”</p><p>Derek chuckled, leaning back so he could look at Stiles with raised eyebrows.</p><p>“Bab<em>ies</em>? How about we try with one first, see how that goes?”</p><p>Stiles grinned back, his hand slipping between them and his fingers gently trailing along Derek’s flat and muscular stomach.</p><p>“You’re a werewolf, aren’t you? Maybe we’ll end up with an entire <em>litter </em>of kids!”</p><p>Derek snorted, grabbing Stiles’ hand and tugging him onto the bed.</p><p>“No respectable werewolf has <em>ever </em>birthed a litter, believe me! Besides, I don’t think we’ve ever even had a pair of twins in the family, so if you’re hoping for a handful of babies, I’m afraid it’s not going to happen. Ever!”</p><p>Stiles laughed, holding up his hands in surrender.</p><p>“Oh god, can you even imagine us with a handful of kids? I won’t lie, I’m kind of hoping for at least two, because I hated being an only child and I don’t want our baby to feel the same.”</p><p>“Two then,” Derek agreed, pressing a kiss to Stiles’ palm.</p><p>“Or maybe three?” Stiles tried, but Derek shook his head immediately, patting his abdomen for emphasis.</p><p>“No. Two is all I can handle, I think. My mom ran a tight ship as Alpha, but I think she and my dad stopped being on time for anything the moment they added Cora to the mix. Besides, if there’s three that means it’s two against one and I don’t want three little werewolves tearing down the house.”</p><p>“We could always have four,” Stiles grinned impishly, laughing out loud when Derek buried his face into the pillow with a groan.</p><p>“Didn’t you just say you couldn’t imagine us with a handful of children? No one in their right mind has four children! The ones that claim they did this on purpose are just too embarrassed to admit they suck at using birth control!”</p><p>Stiles nodded in agreement, smacking a kiss on top of Derek’s head.</p><p>“You’re right. We’d end up in Eichen House faster than you can shift into your Beta form!”</p><p>He chuckled, his hand once again gently palming Derek’s toned stomach.</p><p>“I’d love to have two children with you. But only if the first pregnancy goes well and you really love being pregnant, because I don’t want you to think you have to go through this multiple time if it really sucks!”</p><p>He maneuvered Derek so he was lying on his back, then moved down so he could nuzzle against his stomach.</p><p>“I love you! I love you so much for being willing to do this for us!”</p><p>He trailed feather-light kisses up Derek’s chest, nuzzling into his throat and then capturing his lips in another heated kiss.</p><p>Derek kissed back with everything he had, and Stiles was never going to get over just how much he loved him.</p><p>He loved him more than anything in the world and he couldn’t wait to have a family with him.</p><p>In fact, he was going to start right now.</p><p>
  
</p><p>===================</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>2041</em>
</p><p>“You know, <em>Dad</em>, on second thought I think I don’t want to hear this story after all!”</p><p>Stiles laughed sheepishly, clearing his throat.</p><p>“Point taken. I think I can skip a couple of parts here and there.”</p><p>“Or maybe a <em>lot</em> of parts,” Leonie suggested helpfully, her lips cracking into a smile when Stiles let out a huff.</p><p>“You got that part right. We started trying in early 2021, but suddenly it was eleven months later and your father still wasn’t pregnant. At one point, I even suggested fertility rituals, which your father likes to remind me of to this day!”</p><p>Stiles chuckled, shaking his head at his earlier self.</p><p>“Knowing what I know about fertility rituals now, I’m certainly glad we didn’t go that route. Most of them are mumbo-jumbo, of course, but imagine we’d managed to pick the one that actually has some serious magical mojo! Your father would have never forgiven me if I’d knocked him up with octuplets or something equally ridiculous!”</p><p>Leonie shuddered, clearly in agreement.</p><p>“Unfortunately, we made a big mistake when we started trying and that definitely didn’t help our emotional state of mind throughout the whole ordeal.”</p><p>“You told everyone?” Leonie guessed and Stiles nodded, letting out a huge sigh.</p><p>“You know me well, child. Yeah, I did. Pretty much the second we decided to try. I can’t change it now, but I still regret what that did to your father. The pack kept staring at his belly for months, watching him like hawks and tensing if he so much as yawned or touched his stomach absentmindedly. The longer it took, the more he felt like it was his fault and having the pack constantly staring at his stomach really didn’t help.”</p><p>Leonie frowned and Stiles held up his hand.</p><p>“They meant well. They didn’t realize how much the whole situation was hurting us and especially your Papa. One night, I came home late from work during a pack meeting and your Papa was in the kitchen and putting some cookies in the oven. I went in to kiss him and suddenly I heard “Are you guys putting a bun in the oven or why is this taking so long?”, followed by a bunch of laughter. Your Papa looked at me and suddenly there were tears streaming down his face and I’m afraid I lost my shit a little. They stopped after that.”</p><p>“I’m sorry!” Leonie said, looking at him with wide eyes.</p><p>Stiles smiled.</p><p>“It wasn’t your fault, baby-girl. I couldn’t keep my mouth shut when I really should have, your Papa didn’t communicate how much they were stressing him out until it literally burst out of him, and the pack was maybe a little too young to really take things like infertility seriously”</p><p>He sighed, shooing away an unbidden image of Derek staring at his reflection on the morning of his ninth consecutive negative pregnancy test, when he’d stood in front of their full body mirror and looked at his flat stomach with an expression of such anger and betrayal that had made Stiles ache for him then and was still a painful memory to this day.</p><p>“Anyway, little did I know that the scariest day of the entire conceiving drama was yet to come, of course.”</p><p>“Why? What happened?” Leonie asked immediately and Stiles debated telling her for a second, before he decided that he’d already started and might as well continue.</p><p>“You know our house used to be your Grandma Talia’s old home and Papa and the pack finished rebuilding it just before you were born, right? Well, your Papa was still working on the house on the day I got what I then foolishly thought was the most terrifying phone call of my entire life.”  </p><p>
  
</p><p>===================</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>April 2022</em>
</p><p>When Derek didn’t pick up the first time, Stiles didn’t think twice about it.</p><p>His mate had left in the early morning hours to do some more work on the house and even though his werewolf hearing made it near impossible for him to miss a call, Stiles could appreciate that he didn’t want to pick up his phone while his hands were covered in dust and debris.</p><p>When Derek didn’t pick up the second time about half an hour later, Stiles decided that Derek was probably engrossed in his work and would call him back when he could, so he put down his phone and decided to get some work done on their new product line of champagne flavored candy.</p><p>Three hours later, Stiles leaned back from his computer and realized with a start that Derek still hadn’t called him back and so he picked up his phone once more, figuring that his werewolf had just forgotten about it.</p><p>Again, Derek didn’t pick up.</p><p>Once was a chance.</p><p>Twice was a coincidence.</p><p>Three times though – three times was a pattern.</p><p>Stiles was out the door and halfway down the stairs when Derek’s voicemail picked up for the fourth time.</p><p>He barely noticed it was already dark outside when Derek’s voicemail message started up in his ear for the fifth time and he got into the jeep and slammed the door shut, tearing out of the parking lot while pushing the call button yet again.</p><p>He was halfway into the preserves and on his eleventh panicked call when Derek <em>finally </em>picked up.</p><p>“Where are you?! Why didn’t you pick up your phone, I was starting to become terrified!”</p><p>For a moment, all Stiles could hear was ragged breathing.</p><p>When Derek spoke, he sounded worse than when he’d asked Stiles to cut off his arm and everything inside Stiles went cold.</p><p>“Stiles … I’m at the old house … something’s <em>wrong</em> … I need help!”</p><p>The next sound Stiles heard was painful retching and he pushed on the gas pedal, frantically yelling at Derek to tell him he was okay.</p><p>Derek didn’t respond.</p><p>He couldn’t have, really, because by the time Stiles finally reached the old Hale house, his werewolf mate was unconscious.</p><p>He was deathly pale, his features looking pained even though he was out cold, and when Stiles dropped to his knees beside him, he almost landed in a puddle of vomit.</p><p>“Shit! Shit, fuck, Derek! Derek!“</p><p>Derek groaned, his eyelids fluttering as if he was trying to open his eyes.</p><p>A moment later, he doubled over and threw up all over Stiles’ lap.</p><p>Stiles let out a panicked hiss when he realized that his mate wasn’t vomiting black goop but actual vomit, ruling out wolfsbane as the culprit and making the whole situation even scarier.</p><p>“Derek!”</p><p>Derek tried to open his eyes again, his lips twitching in what Stiles assumed was meant to be a smile.</p><p>“Sti…tiles,” he slurred, and Stiles caressed his face reassuringly, noting worriedly how clammy Derek’s skin felt.</p><p>“Hey! Yes, it’s me! Derek, what’s wrong? What happened?”</p><p>“Don... don’t know. ‘m sick, Stiles. So nau … nauseous!”</p><p>He’d barely gotten the words out before he was throwing up all over Stiles again and for a brief, surreal moment, a part of Stiles was convinced they’d actually done it.</p><p>Even as his own stomach clenched in worry, a part of him was elated at the idea that they’d <em>finally </em>managed to conceive.</p><p>Nausea and fainting meant pregnancy, right?</p><p>Since Derek wasn’t vomiting black goo and clearly hadn’t been exposed to wolfsbane, the only other reason was that he was pregnant, right?</p><p>“Derek! Derek, do you think you’re …”</p><p>Derek let out an agonized sound and a moment later he was retching again, except this time the hot liquid running down his chin was devastatingly red.</p><p>For a moment, Stiles couldn’t breathe.</p><p>
  <em>No! No, no, no, no, no!</em>
</p><p>Derek retched again, more blood spilling from his lips, and Stiles snapped out of his stupor instantly.</p><p>“Shit! Shit, shit, shit!”</p><p>Derek had passed out again, his body limp and heavy in Stiles’ arms.</p><p>He needed to get him to Deaton right now and it was only his adrenaline-fueled panic that made it possible for Stiles to heft his unconscious mate into the car.</p><p>A moment later he was flying down the path that led away from the house, his phone already ringing the animal clinic.</p><p>“This is Deaton, how can I …”</p><p>“Something’s wrong with Derek! I’m taking him to the clinic right now!” Stiles yelled, keeping one eye on the road and the other on his barely conscious mate.</p><p>Derek was paler than ever and shivering, letting out agonized groans and whimpers as he writhed on the seat with both hands clutching helplessly at his abdomen.  </p><p>“No! No, no, no, please <em>god</em>, not <em>now</em>!”</p><p>Stiles had long stopped believing in deities, but now he was praying with everything he had that Derek wasn’t pregnant after all.</p><p>Because if he was …</p><p>If he really was …</p><p>Derek let out another pained groan, followed by more blood spilling out of his mouth, and Stiles drove faster, even as a small voice inside him told him it was too late anyhow.</p><p> </p><p>===================</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>2041</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Oh my god, <em>Daddy</em>! Was that when you found out you were pregnant with me?”</p><p>Stiles shook his head, flashing his daughter a faint smile despite the heaviness that had settled in his gut upon remembering that harrowing day.</p><p>“Of course not, Sweetie-Pie. This happened in April of 2022 and you were born in June of 2023. Your Papa would have gone into strike if he’d been pregnant with you for 14 months.”</p><p>Stiles shook his head when he could literally see the gears turning in his beloved daughter’s mathematically challenged brain, his chest feeling a little lighter when she blushed and smiled sheepishly.</p><p>“He was okay though, right Daddy? He wasn’t pregnant, right?”</p><p>“He wasn’t. Even if I spent almost half a day thinking he was and that he was having an allergic reaction to it and I’d literally killed him by putting a baby in him,” Stiles confirmed, remembering how he’d almost collapsed in relief when Deaton had finally found the actual reason for Derek’s condition.</p><p>“Turns out, your great-uncle Peter had stashed some recreational werewolf drugs behind some wooden paneling and your Papa accidentally overdosed on it when he got in contact with it. He was sick for two days, drifting in and out of consciousness and throwing up blood in his sleep because the drugs were wreaking havoc on his stomach lining. It was almost as bad as when he was carrying the twins.”</p><p>Leonie grimaced, letting out a little sound of distress.</p><p>“He was fine though, right?”</p><p>Stiles nodded, flashing his oldest baby a reassuring smile.</p><p>“Of course he was. Once the drugs were out of his system he recovered quickly. He did throw out the fruit basket that Peter sent him though.”</p><p>Leonie chuckled softly.</p><p>“That sounds like something he’d do. From what I remember about him, sending apology fruit baskets for almost killing someone with recreational werewolf drugs definitely seems like a Peter thing.”</p><p>“He’d even included a get well soon card with a cartoon image of a dog with a cold. Derek saved that one, I think.”</p><p>Stiles grinned and Leonie smiled back, the last of the tension bleeding out of her features.</p><p>“What happened after, Daddy?”</p><p>Stiles shrugged, grabbing a pillow and stuffing it behind his back to get more comfortable.</p><p>“We stopped trying after that. For a couple of months, anyway. We were both so stressed out about getting pregnant that we barely talked about anything else anymore and we also fought all the time, but when I found your Papa at the house and thought I was actually going to lose him over this … well. Taking a little break was the right thing to do. We didn’t really talk about how long we wanted to stop trying, so when we realized you were on your way about six months later it was pretty much the best surprise of our lives!”</p><p>Leonie grinned, looking adorably pleased with herself.</p><p>“Did you find out together? Or did Papa surprise you?”</p><p>Stiles laughed ruefully, shaking his head.</p><p>“Nah. None of our pregnancy reveal moments would have made for a cute video on YouTube. Your poor Papa tried to surprise me when he was expecting Cas, but instead of getting the message I accidentally made him pass out because I’d brought home some smelly cheeses. Papa and I will never get over how much of a cheese addict your brother is, by the way, given that Papa couldn’t even stay in the same room with it without looking like he was about to collapse!”</p><p>“You … tube?” Leonie asked and Stiles snorted, suddenly feeling a lot older than he actually was.</p><p>“Not important. You know, in hindsight, I think I actually caught on to the pregnancy much sooner than he did …”</p><p> </p><p>===================</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>October 2022</em>
</p><p>“Derek, we’re going to be late to the barbecue, are you …” Stiles trailed off, stopping halfway into the living area of the loft and taking in the sight in front of him.</p><p>Derek was fast-asleep on the couch and snoring softly, a book he’d been reading for his newest editing job lying on the floor next to his dangling hand.</p><p>Derek had never been all too much into the idea of napping, arguing that his valuable free time was better spent running the parameters of the territory or training the Betas.</p><p>However, in the past couple of weeks it seemed as if Derek had had a change of heart, as Stiles had come home from work early a couple of times and found him either fast asleep on the bed or dozing on the couch.</p><p>They’d actually spent the entire past Sunday in bed, trading soft kisses, snuggles, and enjoying the peace and quiet together, as Stiles had spent the afternoon re-reading <em>Harry Potter </em>and Derek had slept with his head resting against Stiles’ thigh.</p><p>Stiles didn’t know what had prompted Derek’s change of heart, but he could definitely get used to the sight of him sleeping without a care in the world.</p><p>Derek was no longer as grumpy and taciturn as he had been when they’d first met, but there were still moments when Stiles caught him tensing up out of absolutely nowhere, as if he was still chased by an evil force that no one else could see.</p><p>For a long time, Derek had also looked hunted in his sleep, but these days Stiles could only think of one word to describe his sleeping form.</p><p>Soft.</p><p>In his sleep, Derek’s forehead was no longer scrunched up and he no longer curled in on himself, as if he was coiled tight and ready to strike at any moment.</p><p>Instead, his features were relaxed, his soft lips opened ever so slightly and his hair falling into his forehead in silky strands, since Derek had finally seen reason and stopped caking it with product.</p><p>Now, the warm afternoon sun of mid-October fell through the large windows of the loft and bathed him in an almost supernatural glow, and it was entirely too much for Stiles to take.</p><p>Also, they were going to be late.</p><p>Smiling, Stiles tip-toed over to the couch but Derek beat him to it, slowly opening one eye and yawning.</p><p>“Hey Sleepy-Wolf,” Stiles said softly, bending over to kiss Derek’s forehead.</p><p>Derek smiled sleepily and closed his eyes again, though he shifted on the couch so Stiles could slide in behind him.</p><p>“How was work?”</p><p>It was more a mumble than a question, followed by another yawn.</p><p>Stiles grinned.</p><p>“Nothing unusual. I still haven’t sold them on my proposal for the Christmas special flavor, but I’m not giving up just yet.”</p><p>“Mmmm,” Derek replied, sluggishly grabbing Stiles arm and draping it over his middle, effectively turning himself into the little spoon.</p><p>It still gave Stiles pause sometimes.</p><p>As the Alpha, Derek’s job was to make the pack feel secure and strong, anchoring them through the turmoil of the supernatural and keeping them happy and healthy.</p><p>He’d done the same for Stiles for years, even when he’d obviously been on the point of collapse himself, and it had taken Stiles almost three years to convince him that it was okay to draw comfort from his own anchor as well.</p><p>It had meant the world to Stiles when Derek had melted against his chest for the first time, when he’d drawn Stiles’ arms tightly around him and fallen asleep, his shoulders finally free of the tension they’d always carried back then.</p><p>Derek still struggled with using his words sometimes, didn’t quite know how to express his fears and insecurities without compromising the Alpha role he’d never asked for and never should have carried in the first place.</p><p>He was getting better though and asking to be the little spoon was one of the many small ways in which Derek asked for things he didn’t quite feel comfortable saying out loud.</p><p>
  <em>I trust you more than anyone.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You make me feel safe.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I <strong>need</strong> to feel safe.</em>
</p><p>Derek let out a contented little sigh and pressed himself closer against Stiles, his hand lightly pressing against Stiles’ own.</p><p>He was halfway back to falling asleep and Stiles chuckled softly, kissing his nape to get his attention.</p><p>“You have to wake up soon. We’re headed to Isaac, Erica, and Boyd’s for the barbecue, remember?”</p><p>“Mmmmm,” Derek replied, a little smile stretching the corners of his lips.</p><p>“Five more minutes.”</p><p>Stiles laughed, his thumb rubbing gentle circles around Derek’s navel.</p><p>“You’ve been quite the sleepy wolf, lately,” he teased him, his smile widening when Derek let out another contented mumble.</p><p>“Alright. Five more minutes.”</p><p>Derek let out a pleased grunt and stretched, shifting Stiles’ hand in the process and flattening it against his lower belly with his own.</p><p>Later, Stiles would realize how often he’d woken up with Derek in the exact same position in the past couple of weeks, his hand instinctively protecting a most precious secret under his mate’s heart.</p><p>For now, however, he was peaceful and content and completely unaware that he was only hours away from being happier than he’d ever known was possible.</p><p> </p><p>===================</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>2041</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>“It’s not like I’m questioning your instincts, Daddy, but I’m pretty sure it was <em>Papa </em>who grabbed your hand in his sleep.”</p><p>Stiles shook his head immediately, taking a bite of the twins’ leftover birthday cake he’d gotten from the kitchen halfway through the story.</p><p>“Nope! It was because of my kick-ass daddy instincts!”</p><p>“If you say so,” Leonie chuckled, enviously staring at the cake.</p><p>“Man, I wish I was there with you guys. Noah’s baking has really gotten amazing this past year!”</p><p>“He’s planning to make at least five different pies for Thanksgiving, so that’s something you can look forward to, at least,” Stiles assured her, taking another bite and grinning when Leonie huffed.</p><p>“So what happened afterwards, then? Did you find out at the barbecue?”</p><p>“Yep!” Stiles confirmed, his smile widening at the memory.</p><p>“Actually, it was your Nana Melissa who realized it first. She told your Papa in secret and he went and took a test in the tiny bathroom of Isaac, Erica, and Boyd’s old house. Melissa told me to go check on him and when I barged in there, I found him crying, so of course I freaked out at first. Then, I freaked out for a completely different reason, but it was the best freak-out of my life!”</p><p>“I guess I always had a flair for the dramatic,” Leonie teased, and Stiles snorted, shaking his head.</p><p>“Oh baby-girl, there was nothing dramatic about that day! Or about the pregnancy, really. Some weird moments, yes, but truly dramatic? No. Though I’m sure your papa would disagree.”</p><p>“I seem to remember something about a <em>Bambi </em>inspired emotional crisis,” Leonie mused, her eyes sparkling with amusement when Stiles gaped at her.</p><p>“He <em>told</em> you about that? I didn’t find out until <em>years </em>after the fact and it was only because Dad got a little tipsy one time during the Super Bowl and told Derek to grab the tissues during a Disney commercial!”</p><p>Leonie shrugged.</p><p>“Well, I asked him if pregnancy hormones were really a thing right after Charlie and I … you know … anyway, I think he wanted to scare me out of becoming the next star of <em>16 And Pregnant </em>so he was very adamant about how pregnancy can turn you into a crazy person. He also told me stuff about hemorrhoids that I really, <em>really</em> didn’t need to know! Ever!”</p><p>Stiles snorted, nodding appreciatively.</p><p>“Yeah, well, you’re lucky to have your papa, you know. Especially given the <em>actual </em>pregnancy drama that happened when he was carrying Noah.”</p><p>Leonie sobered immediately.</p><p>“The accident?”</p><p>Stiles sighed heavily.</p><p>“Yeah. The accident.”</p><p> </p><p>===================</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>February 2027</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Stiles was about to head onto the podium to give his presentation when his phone vibrated in his pocket.</p><p>He quickly pulled it out to check if Derek was trying to reach him, but the name on the display was Scott’s.</p><p>Stiles shook his head, remembering a flurry of text messages he’d received the night before that had mostly consisted of Scott lamenting about his life choices and the trials of parenthood.</p><p>Because he was a good friend, Stiles had dutifully set aside his presentation notes and reassured Scott that dealing with poop explosions and pee in one’s mouth were simply part of the job.</p><p>After all, Scott didn’t need to know that he’d silently cheered about the fact that, as the soon-to-be daddy of two beautiful girls, pee in his mouth was definitely not part of his <em>own</em> parenting journey.</p><p>Smirking, Stiles rejected the call and then put his phone into airplane mode.</p><p>His presentation was about the to start and the conference was important for his company, so Scott’s latest potty-training woes simply had to wait.</p><p>Ninety minutes later, after he’d finally disentangled himself from the crowd of business men who’d stopped to chat with him after the panel, Stiles finally had the opportunity to duck into a restroom and pull out his phone again, switching it back on with the intention to call Scott back.</p><p>His phone started vibrating the moment it connected, as more than twenty messages and five voicemails started popping up from Scott, Jackson, Isaac, his father, and Melissa.</p><p>The one name missing from the list was Derek, however, and Stiles’ chest suddenly felt tight as he clicked on the first voice mail.</p><p>There was a siren blaring in the background, but Stiles could barely hear it because Leonie was <em>screeching</em>.</p><p>It was a sound he’d never heard her make before, filled with panic and horror and everything a three-year old should <em>never</em> have to feel.</p><p>For a moment, he couldn’t even make out what she was screaming, but when her words became clear his world came to a full and abrupt stop.</p><p><em>“My Papa’s dead</em>!”</p><p>Stiles couldn’t breathe.</p><p>He barely noticed when his legs gave way and he slid against the wall of the bathroom stall, his hand gripping his phone so tightly he could hear something crack.</p><p>
  <em>“Stiles! Fucking pick up your phone, damn it! Stiles, there’s been an accident, there’s been – oh for <strong>fuck’s sake, </strong>Deaton, give her to me! Sweetie-Pie, come here, Grandpa’s calling Daddy right now, he’s going to be here soon, everything’s going to be fine! Listen, Stiles, there’s been an accident and I’m pretty sure Derek’s in labor! Deaton just got here and Scott’s trying some of that magic werewolf shit but Derek’s unconscious and he’s bleeding and he … oh shit, no, Leo-Pie, no, your Papa is <strong>not dead</strong>, your Papa is going to be <strong>just fine</strong>! Stiles, you need to pick up your phone, you need to get here right now!   </em>
</p><p>Stiles was on his feet and out the door in seconds, almost barreling over one of the CEOs he’d just spoken to minutes earlier as he sprinted down the hotel hallway with his messenger-bag slamming against his thigh.</p><p>He tried calling his father, but the Sheriff didn’t pick up, making the fear in Stiles’ gut grow colder and colder as he paced in front of the elevator, willing it to open already.</p><p>He called again when he reached his room, putting the phone on speaker as he rushed around the room and hastily stuffed his belongings into his small travelling suitcase, including a plush Statue of Liberty that he’d gotten for Leonie and an oversized maternity shirt with a huge apple over the belly that he’d gotten for Derek.</p><p>Derek.</p><p>His mate, his love, his pregnant, injured, bleeding, unconscious fucking <em>everything. </em></p><p>“Fuck! Pick up!” he yelled when his father’s phone went to voice-mail once again, the panic making it harder and harder to think straight as he slammed the door behind him and bounded down the carpeted hallway.</p><p>He didn’t bother checking out when he saw long line of guests waiting at the reception desk and went straight for the taxis outside the hotel instead, his phone once more pressed to his ear but barely able to hear the dial tone through the blood rushing in his ears.</p><p>His father finally picked up when Stiles was already on his way to the airport and Leonie’s inconsolable sobs were the first thing Stiles could hear.</p><p>“Dad! Is he alive?” Stiles barked, ignoring the cab driver’s curious glance in the rear-view mirror.</p><p>“He’s alive! Stiles! He’s alive! He’s still in labor but Scott and Deaton are trying to stop it right now!”</p><p>The panic was still there, Leonie’s gut-wrenching sobs in the background tearing into Stiles and stripping him apart from the inside out, but for a moment Stiles felt like he could breathe a little easier.</p><p>“Dad, I heard sirens, what was …”</p><p>“I alerted Melissa as soon as I got the call about what had happened, and she went and stole an ambulance from the hospital! We didn’t know if he was going to give birth right there in that damned ditch and I know the chance is low that the baby’s human but … fuck, Stiles, are you on your way home right now?”</p><p>“Headed to JFK right now,” Stiles confirmed, even as a fresh wave of panic threatened to overwhelm him.</p><p>With Derek being a born wolf from a long legacy of werewolves, Stiles had never seriously considered the idea of Derek carrying a human child.</p><p>Now, however, it was all he could think about, his mind filled with nightmarish images of a six weeks premature fragile human baby struggling for breath as her father was slowly bleeding out next to her in a dirty ditch.</p><p>
  <em>No! </em>
</p><p>“Dad, what the fuck happened?”</p><p>In the background, Leonie let out another wail and when his father answered, Stiles could hear his tension with every single word.</p><p>“It was an accident, Stiles. I don’t know what happened exactly, we haven’t gotten Leonie to calm down enough to actually tell us. I think she got onto the street and there was a truck and Derek went after her to get her out of harm’s way and he must have fallen.”</p><p>“Fallen? <em>Fallen</em>? He’s a wer… he wouldn’t be in la … this wouldn’t be happening just because of a fall!”</p><p>Stiles pressed his lips shut and dug his nails into his thigh to calm himself, flicking a quick glance to the cab driver to see if he’d listened.</p><p>The cabbie wasn’t paying him any attention though, zigzagging through the crowded streets as if he didn’t have a care in the world.</p><p>“Stiles! Stiles! He’s going to be fine, you hear? We think he was running at full speed to grab her from the street, so the impact must have been really fucking hard! Scott and Deaton are doing everything they can, and I think …. No. No, Stiles, listen to me, he’s going to be fine! He and that baby are going to be just fine! Just make sure you get here soon! Your baby-girl really needs you right now!”</p><p>“Can you give her to me?”</p><p>Stiles took a deep breath, trying to summon his calm from whatever otherworldly dimension it had disappeared into when Leonie’s sobs and hiccups got louder.</p><p>“Shhhh, shhhh, hey baby-girl, hey Sweetie-Pie, shhh.”</p><p>“Da-da-da-<em>daddy</em>!” Leonie wailed, sounding more heartbroken than ever.</p><p>“My fault, daddy! ‘m not s’posed to run into the stre-stre-street, but I <em>did</em>, Daddy, I did, and then there was a tru-tru-<em>truck</em>, and, and, and …”</p><p>She broke off, whimpering helplessly, and Stiles started making shushing noises again, his heart feeling like it was literally being ripped apart.</p><p>“It’s not your fault, baby-girl! It’s going to be okay, you hear me? I’ll be there soon and then you and I and Papa are going to have ice-cream and we’re going to snuggle on the couch and watch a movie and it’s all going to be okay!”</p><p>“<em>Daddy</em>!” Leonie sobbed and then the Sheriff was on the line again, sounding every bit as raw as Stiles felt.</p><p>“Get home safely, son! Your family needs you! I’ll watch over them in the meantime. He’s going to be fine, Stiles. They’re all going to be just fine!”</p><p>“I’ll be there as soon as I can!” Stiles replied, his phone dropping out of his hand and his whole body shaking after he’d disconnected the call.</p><p>The cabbie threw him another look in the rear-view mirror, and it might have been Stiles’ imagination, but it was almost as if they were moving faster now, despite the fact that it had started snowing at some point while he’d been on the phone.</p><p>Stiles leaned back and tried to breathe, his daughter’s devastated cries ringing in his ears and sabotaging all of his efforts to remain calm.</p><p>He could already see the flags at the airport entrance when the cabbie cleared his throat, seeking eye-contact.</p><p>“I know Baba worry, but little one much strong.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>Stiles looked up, sucking in a shocked breath when, for one terrifying second, the face he could see in the mirror wasn’t human but that of a lion.</p><p>He blinked, his hand already in his jacket pocket where he always carried a stash of protective herbs when he travelled.</p><p>The cabbie cleared his throat as if nothing had happened, his dark brown eyes staring at Stiles from a perfectly normal human face.</p><p>“Little <em>gorg </em>strong! Baba worry not.”</p><p>The cab stopped at the curb and the driver turned in his seat, his gaze sympathetic and warm and just a hint of supernatural red glowing around his irises.</p><p>"Gorg very strong. Baba and baby be just fine,” he said again, nodding with a small smile as Stiles shoved a wad of dollar bills into his hand.</p><p>If the situation had been different, Stiles might have had a million questions, but instead he stumbled out of the cab with a hasty “Thank you!”</p><p>He had no idea what the man was, but he did know that he’d gotten him to the airport much quicker than should have been possible, despite the fact that the snowfall had gotten even heavier.</p><p>His relief over having gotten to the airport so quickly evaporated the moment he stepped inside and saw the long lines everywhere, his heart sinking even further when he noticed all the blinking ‘cancelled’ signs on the monitors.</p><p>He looked around frantically, trying to locate the shortest line and making a beeline for it, no longer caring which airline he was going to travel on as long as they were able to bring him home to Derek.</p><p>Twenty agonizing minutes later, Stiles slammed his credit card on the counter, the blood once again rushing in his ears and his vision going a little spotty eyed in his panic.</p><p>“What do you mean, all flights out West are <em>cancelled</em>?”</p><p>“I’m sorry Sir, but it’s not safe for the planes to take off during this blizzard. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow, but I’m sure we can rebook you on …”</p><p>“<em>Tomorrow</em>? I can’t do tomorrow! I have to get to California right now!”</p><p>“I understand, Sir,” the young woman behind the counter said patiently, her smile getting a little more strained when Stiles let out a growl.</p><p>“There has to be a flight out tonight! There <em>has to be</em>! And I need to be on it, you understand? I need to get to California right now, I need to be with my family, my husband …”</p><p>“I understand,” the woman said again, her eyes briefly fliting to her colleague at the next counter.</p><p>“You don’t understand anything!” Stiles barked, the dark spots in his vision getting bigger and his chest feeling tighter and tighter as the panic attack began to take hold.</p><p>“Sir, I need you to calm down!”</p><p>“My husband is gravely injured, and my <em>child might be dying and you want me to calm the fuck down?</em>”</p><p>“Sir!”</p><p>Stiles couldn’t breathe, barely even noticed the strong arms that were suddenly hooked around his chest, pulling him away from the counter and his only option to get to Derek.</p><p>He tried to struggle but couldn’t quite coordinate his limbs anymore, heaving gasping breaths and shaking all over as the arms tightened around him.</p><p>“Sir! Sir, you need to calm down!”</p><p>
  <em>Derek, bleeding out in a ditch, his shaking fingers cradling his belly in a desperate goodbye.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Derek, pale and unconscious, their daughter sitting next to him and howling her little heart out.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Derek, listening as their unborn baby-girl’s heart stopped, the impact of her father’s fall too much for her little body to take. </em>
</p><p>Calm.</p><p>Yes.</p><p>Stiles was going to stay <em>calm </em>while the man he loved most in the world was possibly losing their baby right in this very moment and Stiles was stuck in an airport on the other side of the country.</p><p>His phone vibrated in his pocket.</p><p>For a moment, Stiles almost didn’t realize.</p><p>When he did, awareness snapped through him like a sword.</p><p>“Dad!” he barked, holding his breath when Scott answered.</p><p>“We did it! Stiles, we stopped the labor! The baby is fine, you hear me? The baby is fine!”</p><p>Stiles let out a chocked breath that was more sob than anything else, sagging against the airport security guard who was still holding him in a tight grip.</p><p>“Derek! What about Derek? Is he okay? Can I speak to him, is he …”</p><p>“He’s still unconscious, Stiles! He’s … Stiles, he hit the ground while running at full speed! And he’s an <em>Alpha</em>, so that’s really fucking fast! If he’d been human, that kind of impact would have been … I actually think he broke some bones, though I doubt he even realized, what with the shock and the birth canal forming and …”</p><p>“All flights are cancelled!”</p><p>Stiles was shaking again, his throat closing up and his eyes suddenly swimming in tears.</p><p>“All flights are cancelled, Scott, there’s a fucking blizzard outside and I’m stuck, I can’t get out of here, I can’t … I can’t get to him, Scott! I promised him I’d always be there and now I’m stuck on the other side of the country and he’s hurt and alone and <em>I can’t get to him, Scott</em>!”</p><p>“Stiles! Stiles, please!”</p><p>There was a shuffle on the other end of the line and then Melissa was making shushing sounds, her voice calm and warm despite an edge of lingering tension.</p><p>“Stiles, honey, you need to calm down. The baby’s heartbeat is strong and so is Derek’s, he’s just sleeping it off right now. His system got a massive shock when he fell as hard as he did and Scott says his wolf must have rerouted all his healing abilities to keep the baby safe. He needs to recharge now, but he’s going to be fine. They’re both going to be just fine.”</p><p>“Please!” Stiles whispered, not even sure what he was begging for.</p><p>“We’ll watch over him until you get here. He’s not alone, Stiles. John’s taking care of Leonie and Scott and I won’t leave Derek’s side until you’re here.”</p><p>There was more shuffling and then Scott was on the line again.</p><p>“Dude, he’s going to be fine. Just focus on getting here in one piece, we’ll take care of him.”</p><p>“Sir! Sir, I’m going to let you go now.”</p><p>Stiles blinked, turning around to stare at the huge security guard who’d restrained him and was now looking at him cautiously.</p><p>“Are you going to be any trouble, Sir?”</p><p>Stiles let out a shaking breath, his relief almost overpowered by the sense of helplessness that spread through him as he took in the even larger lines all around the airport.</p><p>The guard was still eyeing him with a frown and Stiles pulled himself together, holding up his hands.</p><p>“No. No trouble. Sorry.”</p><p>Because he didn’t want to be handcuffed and put in a cell that would keep him even farther away from Derek, Stiles kept his promise of not causing any trouble for the twenty hours it took until he could finally board a plane to San Francisco.</p><p>He tried to stay calm through argument after argument with the car rental agents who refused to let him drive through a blizzard, though he knew it was no use when one of them pointedly looked at his shaking fingers and noted that he was clearly in no condition to drive.</p><p>He tried to stay calm as the terminal started getting less busy, only to find himself pacing up and down for hours on end, unable to sit still for even a second.</p><p>He didn’t sleep, eat, or drink, his stomach twisted in knots and his body running on pure adrenaline, and he was beyond exhausted by the time he finally sank down into his seat on the plane, though still unable to even rest his eyes.</p><p>Resting his eyes meant images in his head that he didn’t want to even think about and so he spent the entire six-and-a-half-hour flight fidgeting out of his skin, his fingers restlessly tapping against his uncontrollably bouncing legs and ignoring the increasingly evil looks his seat partner kept giving him.</p><p>Lydia had come to pick him up and her eyes widened when he stumbled out of the gate, followed by a disapproving glare and a jerky shake of her head.</p><p>“He’s alive, Stiles!” she said before he could even open his mouth, rummaging in her bag and thrusting a water bottle at him.</p><p>“Drink! Your skin is a mess and the bags under your eyes are visible from space! Derek doesn’t need to wake up only to faint from shock when he sees you looking like a scarecrow!”</p><p>“He’s <em>still </em>unconscious?”</p><p>Lydia grabbed his chin and pinched, forcing him to look at her.</p><p>“His body is healing, Stiles! Deaton says he’s actually going to recover faster if he stays asleep, so this is a good thing. Now drink, you look like you really need it!”</p><p>Stiles glared at her, but Lydia didn’t budge an inch, watching him carefully until he’d downed the entire bottle in three big gulps.</p><p>There was little traffic on the way home and Lydia drove as fast as she could, but Stiles still felt like an eternity had passed by the time he finally stumbled into his home, almost thirty-four hours after he’d first learned of the accident.</p><p>“<em>Daddy!</em>”</p><p>Leonie barreled into him at full speed, clinging to him and sobbing hysterically, and Stiles picked her up immediately, pressing his nose against the side of her head and whispering shushing sounds into her ear.</p><p>“I’m here, I’m here, you’re fine, baby, it’s going to be fine.”</p><p>Leonie just sobbed harder and when Stiles moved his head to get a better look at her, he almost felt as if he’d been stabbed.</p><p>His daughter’s cheeks were splotchy from crying and she looked like she hadn’t slept at all since the accident.</p><p>“She’s been crying since it happened. Thank god you’re here!” the Sheriff said tiredly, stepping into the hallway and pulling Stiles into a hug.</p><p>“Daddy! Papa isn’t waking up! I want Pa-Pa-<em>Papa</em>, why isn’t he waking up? I want to see Papa!”</p><p>“We haven’t let her see him since the accident. He really needs to rest and with the chem signals she’s been giving off I wasn’t sure if he could while his cub was nearby and in so much distress,” Scott said as he came down the stairs, looking almost as tired as Leonie.</p><p>“I want <em>Papa</em>!” Leonie screeched immediately, her little baby-claws digging into Stiles’ neck uncomfortably and her eyes flashing gold in her panic.</p><p>Stiles took a calming breath for what seemed like the millionth time in the past thirty-four hours and then looked at his daughter, her desperation for Derek clear to see on her distressed little face.</p><p>“Leo-Pie. Sweetie-Pie. We’re going to see Papa, alright? We’re going to go upstairs and see him right now, but I need you to stop crying, okay? Papa is sleeping so he and your baby-sister can get better, and if you cry then he’s going to wake up before he’s ready. Can you do that for me, baby-girl?”</p><p>Leonie hiccupped, her eyes filling with more tears as she wedged her head into the crook of Stiles’ neck.</p><p>Stiles rubbed her back and rocked back and forth, making shushing sounds until her hiccups were little more than tiny hitched breaths and her body was no longer shaking.</p><p>“Want to see Papa,” she mumbled eventually, and Stiles kissed her head, sharing a brief look with Scott who nodded and stepped aside.</p><p>Melissa stepped out of his and Derek’s bedroom when he got to the top of the stairs, flashing him a tired but reassuring smile as she held the door open for him.</p><p>Derek was lying on their bed and looking, for all intents and purposes, peacefully asleep.</p><p>When Stiles got closer, he could see how pale his mate was, though, the soft skin under his eyes darker than usual and a line of tension edged into his features even as he lay unconscious.</p><p>He was breathing slowly and steadily, however, and for the first time in what seemed like forever Stiles felt like he could breathe like a normal person again.</p><p>He sat down on the edge of the bed as gently as he could, keeping a tight grip on Leonie with one hand and reaching out to brush a strand of hair out of Derek’s forehead.</p><p>“Hello, my love,” he said softly, and Leonie let out a small whimper, her face pressed against Stiles’ neck.</p><p>Now that she was actually able to see her papa, the situation seemed to be too overwhelming for her and Stiles kissed her head and rocked her, suddenly all too aware how young his precocious baby-girl still was.</p><p>“Do you want to say hi to Papa?” he asked her, and Leonie turned her head ever so slightly to cast a quick glance at him, followed by another whimper.</p><p>Stiles decided not to push her.</p><p>Instead, he adjusted his hold on her and gently rubbed her back, his other hand coming to rest on the swell of Derek’s belly.</p><p>“Hey baby. This is Daddy. I’m so glad you’re still inside, you have no idea.”</p><p>There was a gentle kick from the inside and Stiles let out a shaky breath, relief and gratitude making him feel almost light-headed.</p><p>He started stroking Derek’s belly as gently as he could, adopting the same rhythm he was using to comfort Leonie.</p><p>He looked at Derek’s face, whishing with all his heart that he would wake up and he could comfort him, too, tell him how much he loved him and how sorry he was for not having been there when he’d been needed the most.</p><p>Leonie mumbled something into his neck and he looked back at her questioningly, noticing with relief that she was actually looking at Derek now.</p><p>“Noah okay?”</p><p>Stiles blinked in confusion.</p><p>“Noah? Who’s Noah?”</p><p>In response, Leonie disentangled herself from Stiles’ embrace and carefully crawled onto the mattress, her wolf instincts clearly telling her she had to be careful around her hurt papa.</p><p>Stiles decided to blame it on his exhaustion when his eyes started watering at the sight of his daughter curling up against Derek’s side and pressing her little cheek against his belly.</p><p>“Noah’s my <em>brother</em>, Daddy,” she explained.</p><p>Stiles sighed, feeling altogether too worn out to let himself get roped into the same argument for the hundredth time.</p><p>Deaton had confirmed that their second child was a girl weeks ago, but Leonie still refused to accept that the brother she had been hoping for was actually a sister, stubbornly referring to the baby as her brother and ignoring everyone’s attempts to correct her.</p><p>“He’s okay, right Daddy? Noah’s okay, right?”</p><p>She looked up at him with big, worried eyes and Stiles nodded quickly.</p><p>“The baby is okay. Your Papa and the baby are both okay. They just need to sleep right now.”</p><p>Leonie nodded, patting Derek’s belly as gently as she could.</p><p>The baby kicked in response and Leonie nodded in satisfaction, followed by a little yawn.</p><p>“Noah says you’re right, Daddy,” she informed him, sticking a thumb in her mouth and snuggling closer to Derek.</p><p>“Noah, huh?” Stiles said gently, reaching over to place a soft kiss on her forehead and then another soft kiss on Derek’s belly.</p><p>“Noah,” Leonie confirmed sleepily, her eyes sliding shut with another little yawn.</p><p>She was out cold just moments later and Stiles couldn’t help but look at his family in wonder, more aware than ever that his mate and children were wolves.</p><p>The tension in Leonie’s body was gone, her body curled into the warmth of Derek’s waist like a cub desperately seeking its parent’s warmth.</p><p>He understood why they’d kept Leonie away from Derek, of course.</p><p>Looking at them now, however, it actually made his heart ache with love to see that Derek was comforting there baby even in his unconscious state.</p><p>He bent forward and rested his upper body on the mattress, his face nuzzling against Derek’s shoulder and one arm curled around Leonie.</p><p>“Come back to me, my love,” he whispered, his last coherent thought before he finally drifted off to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p>===================</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>2041</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t remember any of that,” Leonie said, shaking her head in wonder.</p><p>“Isn’t that strange? That I’d just forget something that was so terrifying?”</p><p>“You were three and a half years old,” Stiles said, his eyes drifting to the door, where Derek had been standing for almost five minutes.</p><p>He beckoned him closer and Derek crossed the distance between bed and door in three large strides, sitting down on the bed and gently lifting Stiles’ hand to his mouth for a soft kiss.</p><p>“Hey Papa,” Leonie greeted him, and Derek winked back at her, wrapping one arm around Stiles’ shoulder and kissing the side of his forehead.</p><p>“What are you guys up to? I thought I’d find you talking your daddy’s ear off about all the fun you were having in the city?”</p><p>Leonie shrugged.</p><p>“Nah. Daddy’s been telling me stories back from when I was really young.”</p><p>Derek shook his head, looking at Stiles reproachfully.</p><p>“I can think of stories that aren’t <em>quite </em>as dramatic,” he said, raising an eyebrow in obvious judgment.</p><p>Stiles smiled sheepishly.</p><p>“She wanted to know about the accident, Papa-Wolf,” he explained, and Leonie nodded quickly, her gaze flitting to Derek with a half apologetic, half worried expression.</p><p>“I’m so glad you and Noah were fine, Papa! I really don’t remember any of this. I almost wish I would though.”</p><p>“Be glad you don’t,” Stiles said immediately, gripping Derek’s hand just a little tighter and feeling his reassuring grip in return.</p><p>“I don’t mean <em>that</em>, Daddy. I just wish I remembered what made me start calling Noah by his name in the first place. Noah’s asked me multiple times and I honestly cannot remember.”</p><p>“It’s going to be our big family mystery forever,” Stiles said easily, sharing a smile with his husband when Leonie sighed dramatically.</p><p>“I don’t know either, Leo-Pie. I asked you why you were calling the baby Noah more than once, but all you’d say is “Because he’s my <em>brother</em>!” I don’t think any of us ever used the name in your presence, so who knows how you came up with it.”</p><p>“It still would have been cool to know,” Leonie said wistfully, and Derek laughed softly, directing her attention to him.</p><p>“It doesn’t matter, Leo-Pie. Did you know that Noah means ‘comfort’ or ‘rest’ in Hebrew? If you think about it, it’s obviously the perfect name for him. After all, the fact that he was okay was the biggest comfort to all of us during that time.”</p><p>“Not to mention the bed-<em>rest</em> situation,” Stiles quipped, surreptitiously wiping at his eyes when Derek groaned and Leonie gave her father a sympathetic smile.</p><p>“I don’t remember that either. I also don’t remember …”</p><p>She trailed off, her eyes flashing beta gold on instinct as a full-body shudder went through her.</p><p>Beside Stiles, Derek tensed.</p><p>Stiles turned to look at him, but Derek gave him a half-hearted smile, followed by a little nod.</p><p>“You mean when I was kidnapped by hunters while I was pregnant with Cas?”</p><p>Leonie shuddered again, as if she could barely bring herself to think about it.</p><p>“Yeah. I had no idea that ever happened until Daddy told me about it two years ago. Noah and Cas still don’t know, do they?”</p><p>“And we’re going to keep it that way for a while longer,” Stiles said firmly, raising an eyebrow at her when his daughter looked like she wanted to protest.</p><p>“The only reason I told you the whole story was because you asked me about how Peter died and I didn’t want to lie to you. Besides, Noah and Cas are still a little too young. Noah had nightmares for weeks after we told him why he never got to meet his Nana Talia and Poppa Sebastian, remember? Why should we burden him with the knowledge that hunters still came after Papa even years after the fire?”</p><p>“Oh,” Leonie said softly, understanding dawning in her big hazel eyes that looked so much like Derek’s.</p><p>She was silent for a while, seemingly deep in thought, and Stiles used the opportunity to steal another glance at his husband, who was watching their oldest with a wistful expression.</p><p>“Awwwww! I know I said it was gross when I was in seventh grade, but now that I’ve received the wisdom of age, I actually thinks it’s amazing that Daddy is <em>still </em>giving you heart eyes, Papa!”</p><p>Leonie grinned at them and Stiles flushed, a warm feeling spreading in his chest and chasing the lingering ache of bad memories away when he noticed Derek’s pleased little smile.</p><p>“I can’t help it!” he declared, reaching over to place a hand on the softest part of Derek’s belly, a little rounding that had never gone away after the birth of their last children and that Stiles would love and cherish for the rest of his life.</p><p>“Talking about all this is just reminding me of how amazing it all was! <em>Despite</em> the dramas and the worries. I guess I got used to it after getting to be you guys’ Daddy for eighteen years now, but the fact that we even <em>had</em> you in the first place? That Papa’s body did what it was able to do? That’s something I should <em>never</em> take for granted!”</p><p>“Awwww,” Leonie said when Derek leaned over and captured Stiles’ lips in a soft kiss.</p><p>“On second thought, <em>ewww</em>! Papa, Daddy, stop!” Leonie complained when Stiles deepened the kiss on instinct and the two fathers broke apart with flushed cheeks.</p><p>“Your Daddy is right though,” Derek said quickly, clearing his throat and smiling sheepishly.</p><p>“It <em>was </em>pretty amazing. You couldn’t pay me to do it again, but even the bad parts were worth it to get to have you guys around.”</p><p>“Absolutely!”</p><p>Stiles pressed a soft kiss to Derek’s lips, grinning against his mouth when Leonie let out another playful ewww.</p><p>“There are literally zero regrets here. Well. Maybe except for one. Though I guess it’s kind of a big one.”</p><p>“Awww, Daddy!”</p><p>Leonie looked at him sympathetically, having obviously gotten what he was hinting at.</p><p>From the look on Derek’s face, his mate also had a pretty good idea.</p><p>“I’m sorry, my love,” Derek said, gently nudging their shoulders together.</p><p>Stiles shook his head, letting out a little snort.</p><p>“Yeah, well, it wasn’t exactly your fault that a certain little someone decided to have a particularly speedy start into this life.”</p><p> </p><p>===================</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>September 2030</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>It took a week to truly hit him.</p><p>On the first day after Derek had gone into labor and given birth to their third child in under ten minutes and with only Leonie there to help him through it, Stiles had woken up and the only emotion he’d felt was boneless relief.</p><p>He’d been so worried about their third child, had lain awake for hours on end after Derek had been rescued from the hunters and angsted about whether Derek’s prolonged exposure to wolfsbane had harmed their little baby.</p><p>He hadn’t been able to stop touching Derek’s belly during these nights, needing physical proof that their child was still growing and thriving inside of him and not able to fall asleep until after he’d felt their child kick.</p><p>To his great relief, all of these fears had turned out to be unfounded.</p><p>The baby was healthy and strong and even though he’d actually been born two weeks before his due date he was easily their biggest baby yet, with chubby rosy cheeks and adorably chunky arms and legs.</p><p>“I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m not mad that he decided to come a little bit ahead of schedule. Pushing him out was already painful enough as it was – I imagine it would have been quite the ordeal if he’d been even bigger,” Derek had mused after Melissa had measured and weighed their son, all the while looking at Stiles in astonishment.</p><p>Jonathan – or Cas, as he was already called by everybody – was a gorgeous baby, looking as much like Derek as Noah had resembled Stiles at that age.</p><p>Just like he’d done with their other two children, Derek had spent most of the first week of Cas’ life in bed with him, allowing the bond between father and child to grow.</p><p>As his Alpha, Derek’s constant presence was also soothing to Cas’ wolf, but Stiles could tell that their little boy was most content when the older kids joined the snuggle pile, his little nose sniffing and committing his pack’s scents to memory even in his sleep.</p><p>With Derek occupied with their newborn, Stiles had focused on the older kids as much as possible during that first week, trying to make sure they wouldn’t feel overlooked.</p><p>Leonie had adjusted to the situation much easier than Noah and Stiles figured it was due to the central role she’d played in Cas’ birth, the bond between the siblings already strong and making his daddy heart grow multiple sizes every time he saw them together.</p><p>When Cas had been five days old, Stiles had come up the stairs after playing Legos with Noah and had found Leonie on the bed and holding Cas, multiple pillows propped up around her to make sure the baby was safe even if her arms got a little tired.</p><p>Judging by the sounds coming from the bathroom, Derek had obviously decided to take a shower and even though a part of Stiles had questioned his mate’s wisdom of leaving a seven-year old alone with a newborn, he’d also trusted Derek’s instincts to know whether their daughter was responsible enough to take care of her baby-brother for a little while.</p><p>“You’re the best big sister,” he’d told her, and Leonie had beamed up at him, her eyes flashing golden and reassuring Stiles that yes, his seven-year old’s pack instincts were definitely strong enough.</p><p>Noah, meanwhile, was definitely interested but not as openly devoted to his little brother, always a little more hesitant to interact with him than Leonie and clinging to Stiles more than usual.</p><p>Stiles didn’t think his older son was jealous, per se, but he definitely worried about what would happen in the years to come.</p><p>After all, Noah wasn’t only the proverbial middle child, but he was also the only human of the bunch, and Stiles couldn’t help but imagine all the ways in which he was going to feel left out.</p><p>All in all, Stiles hadn’t had a moment of free time to focus on himself in the week after Cas’ birth, too focused on taking care of the older kids, doing all the chores, making sure Derek was comfortable, and sneaking in a little bonding time with his younger son as often as he could to truly think about it.</p><p>On the seventh day of their life as a new family of five, the house was quiet for once, as John had taken the older kids out to the park and Derek and Cas were napping upstairs, leaving Stiles time to finally do something about the state of the armchair.</p><p>Neither he nor Derek wanted to get rid of it, but it definitely needed to be re-upholstered after Derek had given birth on it.</p><p>Stiles had decided to attempt it himself, since the idea of explaining the blood and gore to a professional definitely didn’t spark joy in his heart.</p><p>He’d just unpacked the tools he’d ordered online when the grief hit, sneaking up on him out of the blue and all but bringing him to his knees.</p><p>One moment, he was staring at the blood stains on the armchair, the next he was sitting on the floor, his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them as he rested his forehead on his knees and the tears began to flow.</p><p>He bit his lip, desperate to stay quiet so Derek wouldn’t wake and hear him, but the grief was too powerful, wracking his entire frame and festering in his chest like molten lava.</p><p>He’d missed it.</p><p>He’d missed it and he’d never get it back.</p><p>Stiles didn’t know how long he cried, whether it had been five minutes or an hour by the time quick footsteps hurried down the stairs.</p><p>A moment later, an arm wrapped around him and he was pulled against Derek’s chest.</p><p>“Stiles!” Derek said urgently, a plea as much as a question.</p><p>“I … I … I’m fine,” Stiles tried, because he didn’t want to put this on Derek, knowing his mate all too well and figuring that he’d only end up blaming himself.</p><p>“No, you’re not,” Derek said firmly, gently rocking him back and forth as if he and not Cas was the baby.</p><p>Stiles looked down, noticing the actual baby sleeping in Derek’s other arm.</p><p>Seeing him made him sob even harder, so he buried his face against Derek’s chest and gave up.</p><p>“I … I … I <em>missed it</em>!”</p><p>For a moment, Derek was completely still, as if frozen by the heartache in Stiles’ voice.</p><p>Then, he let out a shaky sigh and when Stiles looked up his mate’s eyes were swimming in tears as well.</p><p>“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry Stiles, I tried, but …”</p><p>“No!” Stiles snapped, leaning back and angrily wiping at his face.</p><p>“No! You did no-no-nothing wrong! No-nothing! Not a si-si-single thing! You couldn’t … no! Don’t’ be so-so-sorry!”</p><p>“I really did try,” Derek said unhappily looking down at the baby in his arms and then back at Stiles.</p><p>“I didn’t want to push but he just … I just couldn’t keep him in any longer.”</p><p>Stiles shook his head vehemently and wiped his face again, trying for a smile and missing by a mile.</p><p>“I’m glad everything went well,” he said, letting out a little hitched breath when he looked at their peacefully sleeping son.</p><p>“I’m so proud of Leo-Pie and how she handled it! I just … I never thought I’d miss it! I thought I’d … seeing our kids born was …. Fuck, sorry, I …”</p><p>He buried his face against Derek’s chest again, biting his lips against another whimper that was threatening to escape.</p><p>Seeing Derek give birth to Leonie and Noah had been simultaneously the most frightening and most wonderful moments of Stiles’ life and the knowledge that he’d missed out on this experience with Cas was a truly bitter pill to swallow.</p><p>He knew he should be grateful the baby he’d worried so much about was fine and he definitely knew he should be grateful that Derek and Cas had made it through the birth without and harm, but yet …</p><p>“I know I should be grateful! I am! So grateful! But …”</p><p>“You’re allowed to mourn,” Derek said softly, pressing a series of gentle kisses to Stiles’ head.</p><p>Cas let out a little sound, stretching and wriggling in Derek’s arm as he began to wake up.</p><p>“Here,” Derek said softly, nudging against Stiles’ shoulder and handing the baby over.</p><p>When Cas was safely nestled in Stiles’ arms, he wrapped both of them up in a tight hug, hooking his chin on Stiles’ shoulder.</p><p>“You’re allowed to mourn,” he repeated, gently rubbing his cheek against Stiles’.</p><p>“Just – let him comfort you through it.”</p><p>Stiles smiled down at this baby, whispering a soft “Hey” when Cas blinked his eyes open and sniffed, his little nose scrunching adorably.</p><p>It still hurt and probably would for a while, but as he looked down at his healthy, beautiful son, Stiles knew that Derek was right.</p><p>Cas’ health and happiness were definitely the biggest comfort.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>===================</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>2041</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>“I wish I could give you my memories,” Leonie said thoughtfully after Stiles had finished, looking like she was already contemplating the possibilities.</p><p>“You know, maybe it was meant to be,” Stiles said, taking a sip of the tea that Derek had brought him a while earlier.</p><p>“Watching him being born forged a strong bond between the two of you that I know Cas treasures above everything. I might have missed out on something precious, but he gained something that’s undoubtedly even more precious. And at the end of the day, I’m your daddy and you guys are my number one priority. It’s all good, Leo-Pie.”</p><p>“Were you scared, Papa? It never even occurred to me back then, but it must have been scary for you that Daddy wasn’t there. After all, you only had a seven-year-old without a clue as your midwife!”</p><p>Derek chuckled, shaking his head.</p><p>“I guess I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit concerned, but truly scared? No. If it had been my first birth experience then, yes, definitely yes, but having already gone through it twice before? No.”</p><p>He pursed his lips, looking thoughtful.</p><p>“Truth be told, it was actually the easiest birth of the four. With you, I had no clue what I was doing, and it took literally forever, which really didn’t help my nerves or your daddy’s. Noah’s birth wasn’t nearly as long, but his head was bigger than yours and when it actually came to pushing him out it hurt worse than it did with you. The twins’ birth was …”</p><p>He broke off, taking a shuddering breath and shaking his head.</p><p>“Yeah, Cas’ birth was definitely the easiest.”</p><p>“Can I …”</p><p>Leonie bit her lip, looking at them hesitantly.</p><p>“Can I ask you guys something? I’ve wondered for a while, but I never asked and since we’re already talking about all these things, do you … do you mind telling me what happened the day that Grandpa came to get us in the middle of the night and we weren’t allowed to go home until four days later? Do you remember that? It was when you were so sick with the twins.”</p><p>Derek looked at Stiles, gently nudging his shoulder.</p><p>“You’d have to ask your daddy. I barely remember myself.”</p><p>Stiles sighed heavily.</p><p>“How could I forget.”</p><p> </p><p>===================</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>March 2035</em>
</p><p> </p><p>In the early spring of 2035, waking up to the sound of Derek retching had become Stiles’ new normal.</p><p>On this particular night, Stiles had already been jerked awake three times and when his husband shot out of bed for the fourth time in as many hours, Stiles pressed both fists against his eyes and blew out a sharp breath.</p><p>He took another deep breath for good measure, firmly telling himself that it wouldn’t help Derek one bit if he coped with the devastating feeling of helplessness by screaming until his throat was as raw as Derek’s was from the constant abuse his HG was putting it through.</p><p>He took a quick look at the clock as he got up, wincing when he noticed it wasn’t even two-thirty.</p><p>When he shuffled into the bathroom, it was to the painfully familiar sight of Derek kneeling in front of the toilet, holding on for dear life as he gagged and groaned.  </p><p>Stiles kept his distance, aware that Derek barely tolerated another person’s touch as he vomited, and it seemed like forever until the painful sounding retches and heaves finally stopped and Derek lifted his head, turning and resting his cheek on the cool porcelain.</p><p>He looked pale and sick, his cheeks gaunt and dark circles under his eyes that stood out even more against the pallid color of his face.</p><p>“I can’t do this much longer!” Derek rasped when he spotted him, holding out a hand to him that was shaking alarmingly.</p><p>Stiles took the invitation and fell to his knees beside him, gently coaxing him into an upright position so he could rest his back against Stiles’ chest.</p><p>Some days, Derek couldn’t even tolerate the smell of Stiles’ skin, let alone his aftershave, but Stiles had switched all of his hygiene products to unscented soaps and shampoos and the change had helped a little, though whether or not Derek could stand his presence was still a fifty-fifty chance.</p><p>For the moment, the nausea seemed to have subsided to a bearable amount, and Derek let out a quiet sob when Stiles carefully wrapped an arm around him, his head sinking onto Stiles shoulder.</p><p>Stiles was careful not to rock him and made shushing sounds instead, his palm spread over Derek’s belly protectively because he knew that it would soothe wolf, as Derek still feared for their twins’ life.</p><p>Despite all the vomiting, his mate’s eleven weeks pregnant belly was beginning to stretch out his regular shirts, a tight little ball that looked almost grotesque on a frame that had become thinner and thinner in the seven weeks since the whole ordeal had started.</p><p>“I can’t do this much longer,” Derek repeated brokenly, his breath hitching as tears began to roll down his cheeks.</p><p>“Don’t cry, please, you’ll just throw up again,” Stiles begged but Derek just let out a helpless whimper, his belly hitching under Stiles’ hand with his sobs.</p><p>It was inevitable but Stiles’ heart still broke for him when he lurched forward and started retching again, one clawed hand gripping the toilet bowl and the other pressing against his belly as if to shield it.</p><p>“I know it makes no sense!” he got out a couple of minutes later, falling back against Stiles’ chest and cupping his belly with both hands.</p><p>“I know they’re doing okay and I can hear that their heartbeats are stronger than ever, but I can feel my stomach twisting and all I think is that I’m going to vomit them up on accident! I force myself to look because I need to make sure and then I throw up even more and I can’t … Stiles, if this doesn’t stop soon, I’m going to lose my sanity!”</p><p>“That isn’t even remotely biologically possible,” Stiles said immediately, his hands joining Derek’s and framing his belly from all sides.</p><p>“They’re safe inside you. You’re not going to … no. Just … no.”</p><p>“I <em>know</em>!” Derek got out, sounding exhausted and frustrated.</p><p>“I know it’s ridiculous! I’m just … Stiles, I’m scared! I’m an Alpha werewolf! I shouldn’t be … this shouldn’t be so … I’m <em>scared</em>!”</p><p>“You’re strong! So strong! You’ve gone through so much already, you’re going to get through this, too!”</p><p>“Easy for you to say!” Derek snapped, only to let out another shaky sob right after and grasp Stiles’ hands tightly.</p><p>“I’m sorry! I don’t know what I’m saying. Fuck! I don’t know anything anymore! All I know is that I don’t want to feel sick anymore! I want it to stop!”</p><p>“We all want that, my love! More than you can probably imagine,” Stiles sighed, gently coaxing his husband upright.</p><p>“Come on. Bed. You need to sleep.”</p><p>He helped him up and kept a steadying hand on the small of his back, holding his breath until Derek was safely under the covers again.</p><p>“I can’t do this much longer,” Derek said again, even as his eyes drifted shut and he fell into an uneasy sleep.</p><p>Stiles held it together until he was downstairs, his knees shaking so hard he had to grip the kitchen counter to keep upright.</p><p>He wasn’t sure the rest of them could do this much longer either.</p><p>He rested his head against the marbled top and breathed evenly, sending up prayers to every deity he knew that their nightmare would be over sooner rather than later.</p><p>It was almost four thirty in the morning when Stiles decided to brew a cup of chamomile tea, one of the only scents that Derek could still tolerate in the house without having to sprint to the toilet immediately.</p><p>When the door to the master bedroom’s bathroom banged again, Stiles let out a curse and dumped the hot tea instantly.</p><p>He hurried upstairs as quietly as he could and made a beeline for their bedroom, the sounds of Derek’s retching more painful than ever as he closed the door behind him.</p><p>When he got to the bathroom, Derek was lying on the floor, helplessly forcing up more bile and spilling it onto the tiles, since he hadn’t actually made it to the toilet this time.</p><p>Stiles cursed again, grabbing a wad of toilet paper to clean the area around Derek’s head, at least.</p><p>Derek heaved again, whimpering in agony, and Stiles froze in horror when he noticed the blood trickling out Derek’s mouth.</p><p>“Oh hell no!” he exclaimed, jumping up and making a mad dash for his phone in the bedroom.</p><p>“Aiden! Derek’s throwing up blood!” he barked when the werewolf OBGYN they’d just met recently finally picked up, not even bothering with apologies for the late hour in his panic.</p><p>“I thought this would happen eventually,” Aiden replied, his tone going from gruff to alert in a second.</p><p>“What do I do? Fuck! What do I do!”</p><p>“There’s nothing you <em>can </em>do,” Aiden said calmly, though the sound of rustling told Stiles that the doctor was getting dressed in a hurry.</p><p>“His werewolf healing is going to take care of it, but he’s going to feel horrible for the duration. He’s not dying, Stiles. The babies aren’t dying either. I’m afraid he’s just going to have to soldier through this.”</p><p>“<em>Soldier through this</em>? He’s been living in <em>hell </em>for seven weeks already and you’re telling me he just has to <em>soldier through this</em>?”</p><p>“Stiles!” Aiden said sharply, his tone leaving no room for argument.</p><p>“You both knew it was a possibility that he’s going to get even worse. I’m going to be at your place in a bit to make sure he’s staying as hydrated as possible, but I need you to keep it together right now, okay? Hysterics aren’t going to make his nausea go away, he needs you to be calm right now, alright?”</p><p>“But …!”</p><p>“I’ll be there in twenty. If you want to do something helpful in the meantime, maybe you should think about getting your kids out of the house for a bit. Your daughter is old enough to understand Derek is not going to die, but the little ones might be traumatized if they see their papa vomiting blood.”</p><p>A part of Stiles wanted to rage at Aiden and his seemingly callous demeanor, but the doctor’s sharp instructions had actually cleared some of the panicked fog in Stiles’ brain.</p><p>“On it!” he snapped, disconnecting the call and dialing his father’s number right after.</p><p>Twenty minutes later, the Sheriff’s car pulled up at the house just seconds before Aiden and it was only when he knew his husband to be safe with a professional that Stiles was able to leave his side.</p><p>Their four-and-a-half-year-old younger son mostly slept through Stiles hastily throwing some clothes into a duffel bag and he only grunted once when Stiles picked him up and carried him out to the car.</p><p>His father had woken Leonie in the meantime and when Stiles went upstairs to get Noah, Leonie met him in the hallway, her eyes wide and scared.</p><p>“I smell blood, Daddy!” she whispered, and Stiles stopped and pulled her into a tight hug, pressing his nose against her dark hair and taking a couple of calming breaths.</p><p>“The nausea is really bad tonight, but your Papa is going to feel better soon,” he told her, and Leonie scoffed, looking up at him in frustration.</p><p>“You guys keep saying that but then Papa just ends up feeling even worse! Do we really have to go, Daddy? I want to stay here! Pack should never leave pack alone when they’re sick!”</p><p>“I know baby, but Doctor Aiden says Papa needs a lot of rest right now and he can’t do that with so many people in the house! You can help him by making sure he doesn’t have to worry about you guys, alright? You’re going to spend a couple of fun days with Grandpa and when you get back, Papa is going to feel better.”</p><p>He didn’t promise, because he’d pretty much run out of promises seven weeks ago.</p><p>Leonie looked like she wanted to keep arguing but then she snapped her mouth shut, shooting him an angry glare and stomping down the stairs.</p><p>Stiles sympathized with her, as he was all too painfully aware of how hard it must have been for his werewolf child to see her Alpha in so much distress without any sign of relief.</p><p>However, he really didn’t have time for his teenage werewolf daughter’s dramatics at the moment, figuring she’d forgive them once she saw Derek feeling better.</p><p>When he went to wake Noah, his son was already dressed and waiting at the door, a duffle bag clutched tightly in his hand and his eyes filled with tears he was stubbornly trying to hold back.</p><p>He opened his arms for Stiles and Stiles picked him up immediately, whispering assurances that Derek was going to be just fine all the way down the stairs and to the car.</p><p>Leonie was sitting in the front seat, her arms crossed and her eyes blazing in indignation, but Cas was still asleep, which Stiles noted with a sigh of relief.</p><p>“Call me, Son!” the Sheriff said firmly, pulling Stiles into a tight hug.</p><p>“He’s strong. He’s going to get through this. Just be there for him. They’re going to be fine.”</p><p>Stiles waited until the car had pulled out of the driveway and then he hurried back into the house, his heart beating faster when he noticed that everything had gone silent.</p><p>When he burst into the bedroom, Aiden turned and pressed a finger against his lips, nodding to the bed where Derek was currently either passed out or fast asleep.</p><p>“How is he?”</p><p>“He passed out on me while I was administering the IV. He’s severely dehydrated, but the cubs’ heartbeats are strong. He’s going to pull through this, Stiles. But he’s still got a steep hill to climb.”</p><p>Stiles nodded grimly, sinking down onto the edge of the bed and stroking Derek’s hand as softly as he could.</p><p>“I need to be at work in about two hours, but I’ll stop by again once I get off my shift. I’ll keep my phone on me, too, so if there’s an emergency, don’t hesitate to call me.”</p><p>“Thank you. Thank you and I’m sorry,” Stiles said earnestly, rubbing a hand across his face.</p><p>Aiden smiled, patting his shoulder encouragingly.</p><p>“Believe me, I’ve heard worse.”</p><p>Aiden had been gone for a little over five hours when Derek opened his eyes, blinking at Stiles as if he wasn’t quite sure what was happening and where he was.</p><p>When he paled a moment later, Stiles was ready, holding the bucket with one hand and keeping Derek upright with the other as his husband started retching again.</p><p>When he was done, Stiles gently wiped a smudge of blood out of the corner of his mouth, breathing calmly and telling himself he needed to keep it together over and over as he lowered Derek back onto the mattress.</p><p>Derek’s eyes were already falling shut again but he was obviously fighting it.</p><p>When he did manage to keep them open, Stiles was worried to see how dull they were, as if his husband still wasn’t quite aware of what was going on.</p><p>“Sti?” Derek murmured and Stiles grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly to make sure his husband knew he wasn’t alone.</p><p>“Hey,” he said gently, pressing a light kiss to Derek’s knuckles.</p><p>“Sti-Stiles … help me. Make it stop. <em>Please</em>! Make it stop!”</p><p>Stiles had never heard Derek sound so defeated and it was all he could do not to give in to the helpless urge to scream, to roar his frustrations to the sky because making the horrible sickness stop was the one thing he couldn’t do.</p><p>“I love you. I love you so damn much!”</p><p>Derek’s eyes slid shut again, a single tear rolling down his pale cheeks.</p><p>“Help me,” was the last thing Stiles heard before Derek was out cold again.</p><p>Stiles stayed with his husband for a while, until his breathing was deep and even and he was relatively certain that Derek was actually sleeping and not unconscious.</p><p>When Aiden stopped by to check on Derek later, he didn’t comment on the fist-sized dent in the hallway.</p><p>He did, however, level a disapproving look at the abrasion and swelling in Stiles’ knuckles, shaking his head as he placed his palm over Stiles’ and drained the throbbing ache out of the injury.</p><p>Stiles had to look away, once again feeling dangerously close to screaming his head off.</p><p>It wasn’t fair that a simple touch could soothe the result of a moment of uncontrollable rage but couldn’t offer relief to the suffering love of his life.</p><p>It simply wasn’t fair at all.</p><p> </p><p>===================</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>2041</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Stiles!”</p><p>Derek leveled a look at him that was part horrified and part judgmental.</p><p>“You do realize that I thought Cas had played ball in the house again and that I put the poor kid in time-out, don’t you?”</p><p>Stiles nodded sheepishly, scratching at his chin.</p><p>“Yup. And I really felt bad and I took him out for a huge ice cream sundae afterwards,” he replied.</p><p>Derek’s frowny face said that they were going to have a <em>talk </em>about Stiles’ unhealthy coping mechanisms at his earliest convenience.</p><p>“I’m glad it stopped eventually,” Leonie said, drawing both fathers’ attention and effectively ending their stare-off.</p><p>Derek smiled faintly, patting his belly.</p><p>“Yeah. Me too. I’m not sure what I would have done if it hadn’t stopped during the second trimester.”</p><p>His smile grew, his eyes fond when he looked at his oldest child.</p><p>“It was all worth it though. All of it. Even the bad parts. It’s easy to take things for granted when everything is fine, but the bad parts remind us why we carry on and what we’re carrying on for.”</p><p>“Papa’s right,” Stiles agreed, grasping Derek’s hand again and squeezing tightly.</p><p>“Did we hope for the accident when he was pregnant with Noah? Of course we didn’t. Did we ask for him to get kidnapped while carrying Cas? Absolutely not. Would I have given everything I had to give to spare him from the nightmare that was months of suffering from HG during his pregnancy with the twins? Yes. But bad things happen, even if you think you’re invincible.”</p><p>He kissed Derek’s hand, smiling at him affectionately.</p><p>“It’s okay to feel sad when things aren’t going the way you thought they would. It’s okay to feel scared and helpless when things are happening that are beyond your control. At the end of the day, it’s how we get through that’s going to count the most.”</p><p>“You’re right,” Leonie agreed, looking at them with an affectionate smile.</p><p>“I really miss you guys. It’s going to be harder to be away from pack than I thought. But this too will pass, huh?”</p><p>“It will,” Stiles said with certainty, reaching out to touch the screen and gently trace Leonie’s cheek.</p><p>“I love you Daddy,” Leonie replied, pressing two fingers to her lips and then touching her screen as well.</p><p>“You should go to sleep, baby-girl. Isn’t it already one in the morning over there?” Derek asked, smiling as he looked at his watch with a raised eyebrow.  </p><p>Leonie chuckled, blowing him a kiss.</p><p>“I guess I probably should. Thanks for my bedtime story, you guys. It was really good to hear your voices.”</p><p>“It was good to see you, too,” Stiles said earnestly, adding “You don’t have any morning classes, I hope.”</p><p>Leonie yawned, shaking her head.</p><p>“Nu-uh. Actually, Will and I are going to go check out this hipster bakery that makes monster-themed treats and gives them names that are bad puns. I’m hoping they’ll have something werewolf-themed! I’m going to send you guys pictures!”</p><p>“That sounds like fun. I hope you guys are going to have a good time!”</p><p>“We will!” Leonie said with conviction, letting out another yawn.</p><p>“I really am glad he ended up going to NYU as well. They offered him a scholarship with a little more money over in California, but I guess he wanted to experience the other coast for a change.”</p><p>She yawned for a third time, blinking at them sleepily.</p><p>“Bye Daddy! Bye Papa! Love you guys!”</p><p>“We love you, too. Stay safe baby-girl!”</p><p>“Always,” Leonie smiled, blowing them another kiss before she disconnected the call.</p><p>Stiles took a deep breath.</p><p>“Oh my god! Could this kid be any more oblivious if she <em>tried</em>?!”</p><p>“Stiles …”</p><p>“No! Seriously! That poor boy gained almost <em>twenty</em> <em>sadness pounds</em> when she started dating that little vampire-wannabe! He probably spent at least half a year of his life trying to get our daughter through her math classes and <em>didn’t </em>sign himself into Eichen House! He read the entire bestiary three times so he could make sure he’d be the most supportive friend a werewolf could have and I’m pretty sure the kid knows more about the supernatural by now than our werewolf daughter herself! Hell, he even turned down a pretty sweet scholarship to Stanford just so he could follow her to NYU and she still. doesn’t. get. it!”</p><p>“Stiles.”</p><p>“I’m just saying! She could have someone who’s kind, understanding, and endlessly supportive but <em>no</em>, she wants to date the guy who won the last prize at the Edward Cullen Lookalike Contest!”</p><p>“Stiles, he wasn’t <em>that </em>bad!”</p><p>Stiles shot Derek a dirty look and the werewolf laughed, holding up his hand.</p><p>“Alright, there may be some room for improvement in her dating choices.”</p><p>“You know, when our kids first started befriending the Finstock kids I wasn’t quite sure if the universe was playing a particularly weird joke on me. Now I just want Leo-Pie and Will to be happy and get married and have lots of adorable grandkids for us! Is that too much to ask?”</p><p>“They should at least finish college, though. I hear it’s not impossible to graduate if you have kids, but I’m sure it would be easier without.”</p><p>“Oh dear god, don’t speak it into existence!”</p><p>Stiles shook his head, laughing a little manically.</p><p>“I got <em>fifteen</em> grey hairs when she first started taking the pill and kept forgetting all about them until we forced her to put an alarm in her phone! Don’t even say it out loud!”</p><p>“You’re the one already planning the baby-shower, Grandpa,” Derek teased and Stiles huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.</p><p>“It’s going to be lion-themed, because her kids will definitely be feisty and fearless!” he muttered, grunting when Derek kissed the tip of his nose.</p><p>“Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it, shall we? For now, we still have four kids here at home who try to pour sugar over their cereal when we’re not looking, so I think we’re busy enough as it is.”</p><p>“That we are, my love,” Stiles grinned, holding up his arms and tugging Derek closer.</p><p>“I’m glad I’m in this with you,” he whispered, tilting Derek’s head up for a soft kiss.</p><p>Derek smiled against his lips, his fingers coming up to caress Stiles’ cheek.</p><p>“You're the best choice I ever made.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Comments and kudos are, as always, greatly appreciated from the heart!</p><p>Also, my dear friend FicLogia and I were talking about headcanons for which celebrities the kids might look like and it got me curious, so if you, too, have a celebrity you imagine when you read about the kids, I'd be very interested in the answer :).</p></blockquote></div></div>
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